Paintings With Soul

  Levitate make her yours Levitate, original acrylic on a cradled wood panel, natural exposed wood grain on the sides eliminating need to frame, 24”x18”x1”, $1400 plus s&h. I always welcome your questions (yes, I offer payment plans - details below) or  just reach out  to share some love. This one started as a playful sketch overtop an older piece. The sketch was first inspired by the little calla plant on my kitchen table, then of course I had to add some chickadees overtop. I drew them in using another in process bird painting as my resource. Then it was a matter of playing with the shard of blue sky and that rich violet shadows. Finally, I opted to add in silhouettes/leaf patterns from my roses. You can view - or purchase - Levitate  on my website .  Let me know  if you would like a payment plan (30% non refundable deposit with the balance plus shipping paid in full inside 12 months time). Repeat offenders, i.e. returning collectors, please use “COLLECTOR10” at checkout for 10%

  Opening Reception:  Saturday, July 27th, 4-6pm Exhibition: July 27th - August 25th   We're really excited about Mirada's newest exhibition:  WILD THINGS!  In 2009,   Mirada Fine Art   opened its doors with an artist that immediately grabbed the attention of all the new gallery’s patrons:   Jill Shwaiko . Her charming bronze critters (and oil paintings) brought smiles and laughter to all who encountered them. Her artwork is a whimsical contemporary take on ancient petroglyphs. Each figure tells a story. 15 years after joining Mirada, Jill continues to be a favorite for all those who walk through our doors. This will be Jill's first appearance in the gallery in the last five years. For this exhibition, Jill is being paired with Mirada’s newest artist,   Kimberly Santini . Kimberly is a master of capturing the allure and spirit of wildlife in an expressive and imaginative way. Her enticing wildlife paintings are unlike anything we've ever experienced and we're truly

  Strawberry Moon, original acrylic on a handmade cradled panel, image painted around the sides makes framing optional, 30”x24”x1-1/2”, $2000 plus s&h. Questions can always come  to me , or just reach out to share some love. This painting was finished, then not, then finished again, then not - a constant back and forth. I think this happens when I cannot settle into my flow state. Distractions, right, so very many squirrels at the moment….. there’s a certain point where I can no longer control what filters in - it’s like the dam has broken and the floodwaters are encroaching. I feel this in my bones. And yet, I still pick up my brushes. Ironically, my go to when the world feels out of control is the studio. Painting is my safe zone, a space where I can lose myself in the process and check out from the world at large.  Except that’s not happening with consistency any more. There have been some really good winks the past few days that have me itching to paint. Calla lilies, frogs, mo

  Goldfinch, Goldfish make her yours Goldfinch, Goldfish, original acrylic on a deeply cradled panel, image painted around the sides makes framing optional, 30”x30”x2-1/2”, $2100 plus s&h. Link to purchase is below. Questions can always come  to me , or just reach out to share some love. I snuck off on vacation last week and found myself mostly unplugged, in a tropical setting, with absolutely no agenda. I allowed my head and my feet to wander, and soaked up all sorts of new textures and experiences to bring home. Goldfinch, Goldfish is the first piece since my return. She started as a drawing experiment overtop an older painting. Something about that first pass with the graphite hooked me, and I continued onward, working intuitively, repeatedly drawing, painting overtop, and then redrawing the birds. Create-destroy-rebuild is a key part of my process - it builds complex problems for me to solve at the easel while mirroring the insanity of the world at large. Essentially it engages

  robin’s egg blue I have completed some major projects recently - hung a solo show in the fall, filmed and launched an online intuitive painting workshop ( available for purchase, with lifetime access, through Kara Bullock Art School ), completed a community art project for the Detroit Society of Women Painters & Sculptors, launched   on demand art lessons , opened a group show a couple weeks back, created an entirely new body of work for   a two person show   in Denver next month, and am varnishing and readying to ship 4 new, large bear paintings to Whiteside Art Gallery (Cashiers, NC) in early July. It’s no wonder I’ve not released a new art journaling lesson in a bit! Earlier this week I had an afternoon to sit with one of my books and just play. It felt great, to get to make marks with abandon, no worries about anything having to turn out any particular way. That’s my favorite kind of arting, the rudderless sort. Out of that afternoon came this lesson,   Robin’s Egg Blue . Wor

  Peach Peach, original acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, image painted around the sides so no pressing need to frame, 48”x36”x1-1/2”, $5000 plus s&h. Peach will ship rolled and require restreching at the recipient’s end, which can be done by a reputable framer. Questions can always come   to me , or just reach out to share some love. She started as a mountain lion, I kid you not (here’s a   reel   outlining her progression if you don’t believe me). Over the course of three months, Peach challenged me in ways I couldn’t have predicted, but I am SO glad that I stuck with her. You can view - or even purchase - Peach up close and personal   on my website .   Let me know if you would like a payment plan (30% non refundable deposit with the balance plus shipping paid in full inside 12 months time). Repeat offenders, err, returning collectors, use “COLLECTOR10” at checkout for 10% off your purchase of original artwork. And, if you are looking to level up your creativity this summer, don

  I am thrilled to share that I was invited to chat with none other than Kelly Anne Powers' as part of her Learn to Paint podcast. I'm the guest in episode 97. You can catch the episode on your favorite podcast platform or   here on Kelly's website   (which also includes access to an extended cut where I talk about nurturing your Must Haves and other gems).  In our conversation I talk about why you shouldn’t be afraid to cover up what you’ve put down (that universal problem of things becoming precious!), how to build an intuitive approach to your painting process (working from your humanity, your gut, is always authentically fresh and something AI simply cannot replicate) and why you might need to start a studio log (more on that below). Plus so very much more. But let's jump to the big question - What is a studio log? I started one decades ago as backup documentation for tax purposes. Initially it recorded what I did on work days with regards to creating artwork and dr

  Alpha, 20x16 original painting, acrylic on panel, $850 plus s&h to the first asking nicely. Link to purchase is below.   Please reach out   with any questions. I dreamt of wolves last night, but it may have been because of this beauty who showed up 4 days back. Or it could just be that wolves, with their ties to family and loyalty, are walking with me because of various shifts happening in my personal life. Is it really my place to question? I try to just accept the messages and respond with my brushes. Understanding, if it does come, will most likely show up with hindsight. Alpha   can be viewed up close (you want to see all the details in her surface -  it's a good one!), in a room setting, and even purchased  on my website.   As a First Dibber, you get the chance to make this extraordinary piece your own before the general public. Ask   if you'de like a payment plan. A 30% non refundable deposit reserves the painting, with the balance plus shipping and handling satisfi

  Ribbons of Sky, 48"x36" original painting, acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, $5000 plus s&h. This painting will ship rolled and require restretching at your end. A repurable framer can easily do this.  Please reach out  with any questions. Ribbons of Sky was a fantastic teacher. Yes, my paintings teach me. They teach me what to do and what not to do, and this lady was no exception. I thought she was finished on Friday, and I had a burst of adrenaline as I cleaned up the studio. Then Saturday morning I looked at her and she felt unresolved. The dark value shape comprising the right edge of the bear was lovely in how it vibrated, but that illusion overwhelmed the sincerity in her face. Sunday I spent some time with her, too, and compared her to some of my other pieces as a means of trying to learn from them what she might need. Aura  minced no words. There wasn't nearly enough line work, she said, and as lovely as that dark passage was, it needed to be broken up.  Po

  Aura, 40"x40" original painting, acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, $4500 plus s&h. This painting will ship rolled and require restretching at your end.   Please reach out  with any questions. I have been putting in long studio days since March, when I accepted an invitation from   Mirada Fine Art   to hang a two person show at their gallery in downtown Denver (Colorado). This was an ambitious undertaking in that it involved delivering a dozen new, large scale paintings inside 4 months. The pace has been both grueling and inspiring. Each piece spawned excitement in me to try something new. There was no time to overthink or second guess myself. I leaned into my intuition and fully embraced colliding my wildlife spirits with the sky and planets, all sparked by April's eclipse and the northern lights which I was able to witness right in my own backyard. I thought of the animals as containers, source, veils, precipices, apparitions, constellations, memories, creators, g

  Labradorite, 23-3/4"x23-1/2" original painting, acrylic on panel, $1200 plus s&h. Purchae details below.   Please reach out  with any questions. This is a rework - a facelift, if you will - of  a wolf painting carrying the same name  from April 2023. I always say that any painting in the studio is a candidate for a rework. Why might I want to rework a piece? Well, my skills grow with each new piece, and the things I'm fascinated with also shift and change. I learn how to better communicate the story or maybe even recognize something I missed out on the first time around. So today I pulled out  the old painting , which felt a bit too safe - a wolf with fierce eyes in front of a full moon - and had another go at her. I wanted her gaze to be gentle yes wise, to add nuance and softer transitions to the piece, add arbitrary linework and a hint of landscape. I wanted to retain the flash (this is a term identifying the wash of color embedded inside a labradorite stone), hi

    Purple Mountain Majesty, 48"x60", acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, available July 2024 through   Mirada Fine Art   in Denver, Colorado. Inquiries may always come   to me .   Since March I have painted nearly 48 square yards of canvas, used 2 gallons of gesso, a gallon of isolation coat medium, 1-1/2 gallons of acrylic gel medium, and countless tubes of paint. All for good reason - I am creating a fresh body of work for new gallery representation! I am delighted to announce I am joining forces with Mirada Fine Art, a contemporary and distinctive gallery in Denver, Colorado. I choose my representation carefully - gallery spaces are an extension of the experience I would provide collectors were they to visit my studio in person. The gallery and I become a team in bringing ideas to life, curating opportunities to view said art, and facilitating acquisitions. Mirada Fine Art will be an utterly fantastic partner and I am thrilled to be one of their artists. Here's a littl

    Purple Mountain Majesty, 48"x60", acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, available July 2024 through   Mirada Fine Art   in Denver, Colorado. Inquiries may always come   to me .   Since March I have painted nearly 48 square yards of canvas, used 2 gallons of gesso, a gallon of isolation coat medium, 1-1/2 gallons of acrylic gel medium, and countless tubes of paint. All for good reason - I am creating a fresh body of work for new gallery representation! I am delighted to announce I am joining forces with Mirada Fine Art, a contemporary and distinctive gallery in Denver, Colorado. I choose my representation carefully - gallery spaces are an extension of the experience I would provide collectors were they to visit my studio in person. The gallery and I become a team in bringing ideas to life, curating opportunities to view said art, and facilitating acquisitions. Mirada Fine Art will be an utterly fantastic partner and I am thrilled to be one of their artists. Here's a littl

    I have been hard at work behind the scenes, creating on demand lesson videos for students unable to commit to a workshop experience or my student membership. My goal is to provide affordable, easily digestable bites of thinking, painting process and specific technique in a streamable, self study format. These videos are takeaways from other teaching experiences, so they have already been student tested and approved. In them I share approaches to ideation, techniques, thought processes, and various tips on things like color mixing, palette management and intuitive work. I hope to release them monthly. If you have already painted with me in some capacity, check out the lesson descriptions to ascertain if the video is derivative from an experience you might already have had. The newest addition to this growing library is   The Making of Columbine , in which I outline the progression of a painting from the initial contour drawing all the way through to completion. There's lots of g